American eavesdropping:
After bugging, EU should speak with one voice

25 October 2013

Presseurop

The Guardian

Share

Enable scripting to see non-essential content

The Guardian, 25 October 2013

“US spied on 35 world leaders” reveals The Guardian in the latest twist in the National Security Agency (NSA) bugging scandal.

According to confidential documents released by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, a confidential US memo asked senior government officials to provide the spy agency with telephone numbers for senior international politicians so they could be monitored.

Across the EU, too many leaders, from Angela Merkel down, have been slow and cautious about responding to the issues raised by Edward Snowden's revelations. Yet the revelations about US monitoring of Mrs Merkel's phone – and in all probability the phones of leaders from Brazil to Britain too – are a tailor-made issue for collective EU action. The issues are simple: reliable allies should not spy on one another – and American soft power is undermined by these outrageous intrusions. The former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger may or may not have actually asked: "Who do I call when I want to call Europe?" Today, however, is a day when Europe should call America back – and speak with one voice.